me at once to go ashore. In a jiffy I had slipped over the side and
curled up in the fore-sheets of the nearest boat, and almost at the
same moment she shoved off.

No one took notice of me, only the bow oar saying, “Is that you,
Jim? Keep your head down.” But Silver, from the other boat,
looked sharply over and called out to know if that were me; and
from that moment I began to regret what I had done.

The crews raced for the beach, but the boat I was in, having
some start and being at once the lighter and the better manned,
shot far ahead of her consort, and the bow had struck among the
shore-side trees and I had caught a branch and swung myself out
and plunged into the nearest thicket while Silver and the rest
were still a hundred yards behind.

“Jim, Jim!” I heard him shouting.
But you may suppose I paid no heed; jumping, ducking, and
breaking through, I ran straight before my nose till I could run no
longer.